Who Is Your Audience?

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This has got to be the most important question you need to answer when preparing for a speech: Who is your audience? What are their needs? What do they hope to gain by listening to you speak?

If you don’t know the answer to these questions, then your sure to fail. Your speech must meet or exceed the needs and expectations of your audience in order to be successful.

If you do know the answer to these questions, then the next steps are much more simple:

* You’ll have an idea of what you will need to cover within your topic, and which points to can skip.

* You’ll have an ideas of how to organize your speech in a logical sequence.

* You’ll have an idea of what your speech needs to be entertaining to this audience.

* You’ll even know what kinds of support materials are appropriate.

Here are list of things you should know about your audience before preparing your talk:

1. What is the age range of your audience?
2. What brings them together as a group?
3. What is educational level of your audience?
4. What level of knowledge about your topic does this audience have?
5. What expectations of your speech will the audience bring?

Do your best to answer these questions and your success is much more likely.